Improvement in pipe-cleansing apparatus



amparar tra.

JAN VAN sLoo'rE-N, oALnB s. HUNT, AND winrar-iu MCcnLLoeH. or Naw ORLEANS, LoUIs'IANi/ Letters Patent No. 105,015, dated July 5, iSl.

-IMPIROVIFJMEIII IN PIPE-CLEANSJNG- APPARATUS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part 0f the Same lo alt whom yit may concern.- c

Be it known that we, J AN VAN SLoo'TnN, CALEB S. HUNT, and WILLIAM McGULLocH, of the city ofNew Orleans, in the parish of Orleans and State of Louisiana, have invented a new and useful improvement in the'mode and apparatus for removing and clearing out .from gas, water, and other conduit-pipes, incrustations,

deposits, and other obstructions found therein while in use; and do 'hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof', reference being had to the accompanying drawing making part of this speciication and to the-letters of reference marked thereon, like letters indicating like parts where theyoccur. "lo enable others skilled in the art to construct and use our invention, we will proceed to describe itin its l application to gas and water-pipes, but it will be readily` perceived that it is equally adapted to the cleansing of pipes employed for other purposes, suoli as sewers, drains, culverts, and the like, and we contemplate the employment of it for such purposes.

, In the ordinary use of gas-pipes for conveying gas from the manufactory to the consumers, a serious difficulty has been found to manifest itself within a few years after they have been laid down, viz., deposits and accumulations of-i'oreign matter and chemical products'are found distributed along the inside4 of the pipes, sometimes uniformly, and sometimes in varying quantities and at varying distances. These deposits being heavy, and of a character having a tendency to cohere or concrete, form a kind of lava-like or crusty mass, not tenaciously adhering to the pipe, but increasing graduallyinvolume until the capacity of the pipe for the dow and passage of the gas becomes so reduced as to require the removal of these obstructions by somemechanical means.

So, also, in water pipes, especially when they lead from a' low fountain-head, and are laid with undulating grades or supply service-pipes, or different supplies from service-pipes of the same size, whereby different currents in the pipes are produced, In all such cases obstructions are found, both from deposits of mud settling in the low places, and slack currents, and from the lodging therein of other foreign substances carried in by the water as it enters the pipes, and also from the chemical products of the action of the water upon the metal of the pipes which convey it, all which cannot be removed eiectually b any power given by the fountain-head, and yultimate y are required to be taken out bysome other means.

. In both'cases above named these obstructions are specially objectionable in the larger pipes or mains, so called, on account of the great expense involved in removing them, and which removal, so far as we .are aware, has hitherto been done successful-ly only by digging up the pipes and separat-ing them section from section, (which operation, of course, necessitates the breaking of the connections 'of the larger wit-h the' smaller or branch mains when they 0ccur,) and then, after having suiiiciently scraped or otherwise cleaned them separately, they are relaid, reconnectcd, and recovered, all which can only be'done with an expendiit, on its passage, to scrape, detach, and push before/ it all such deposits and accumulations-as are required to be removed.

Vve, also, at the same time render it unnecessaryrv break or sever the connections between the large ant.

small or branch mains Whenever they occur in the pipe;

or section to be cleaned by the disk or piston, by the use of stop-cocks or gates in the smaller mains, at or very near their junction with the larger ones, for the purpose of prevent-ing dirt and other substances from being pressed up into these smaller mains, and at the same time of closing the orifice in the larger main, which is required to be done in the use of the disk or piston as aforesaid in such cases.

To show the devices and apparatus we employ in applying this mode of cleaning pipes, reference is made to the annexed drawing.

Figure l represents a sect-ion of the main or pipe to he cleaned, with the devices and apparatus for cleaning in position.

A is the main, with its extremities exposed at lr r s s, and the orifice for a connection of the smaller or branch main at n. y

B is the stop o1' base, vsecurely and tightly attached and fastened to the end of the main at .s s,having an injection-hole at 7c, described hereafter; and also a smaller or tell-tale hole, at h, which'is likewise hereafter described. v

C is the piston or disk, inserted into the end of the main before the stop or baseB is fastened toit. This piston is made of a series of two or moreflat separate disks, three or four inches thick, made oflwood or other suitable material, and of a diameter a little, say one-half inch, less than the diameter of the bore of the pipe, as a a a, and may be armed with bristles, or wires, or other metal springs,'inserted into or attached 1? means of hydraulic pressure applied to it, and causing Jgd-fp firmly to the perimeter, and prqiectiug so as to bear firmly and constantly as a brush or scraper against the inside of the Vmain during its passage along through it, as shown at d (l, and alsovb'y having disks or washf ers of India rubber or'other suitably elastic material, and of a diameter-a little larger than the bore of the main placed between the wooden disks, as shown at ()11 the rear face of the piston G, or the face nexty the stop or ,base B, we place a cupvalve, c c, also made of India rubber or other like material, which is still larger in diameter than the lwashers b b, say onehalf or three-fourths of an inch, so tha-Qin operation, it shall eectually prevent the escape ofthe water, by the piston, into the main in front thereof, and 4which is held in its place by the circular plate w w, made of metal or wood, having the face which is next the cupvalve made a little convex, to allow a better action of the cup-valve c c when under pressure. The' whole is then bolted together rml y, and so held by the rod g g.

This piston might also be made of a single disk, armed on its periphery with bristles or springs, as above described, and with a cup-valve, siuiilarl y made and attached to its rear face, but we think the one described in the drawing preferable.

Springs, Scrapers, or knives of suitable form, may

also he attached to the forward face of the piston, and,

extending beyond audforward of it, bearing and resting on the inner surface of the main, for the purpose of loosening and disturbing the drift before the piston reaches it, lwhich we propose to use it' found `necessary, but hitherto we have found no occasion to ernploy such, having found no difficulty ill removing all obstructions without them.

To the rod g, and passing lthrough the hole h, is attached the tell-tale o.' cord ff, divided by marks into uniform lengths of given distances,"which, rendering through the hole, is carried along with the Vpiston in its passage, and thus registers its speed and locality in case of accident.' This tell-tale, though of value and convenience in its performance, is obviously not indispensable to the successful operation of our apparatus, andis herein' described and shown by ns as such, and as making no substantial part of our invention or apparatus.

' At the hole k is attached the injection-hose or pipe e e, leading from the pump or engine which forces the` water into the main for the purpose of propelling #the piston.

Figure 2. D represents au end view of a cross-sec- 'tiou ot' the large main atm fm, fig. 1, and also a side view of the smaller or branch main attached thereto, with the stop-cock or gate p p p in position, and which may be worked bya pi pe-wrench, passing down through a tube or otherwise extending from the cock to the surface of the ground, and there protected inthe usual Way.

In the operation of our apparatus, we first dig down and expose the ends of'the section of the pipe to be cleaned; then cnt the connections at both ends. Thev stop-cocks or gates, when used, are then shut. XVe usually pump into the pipe, before inserting the piston, a small quantity of water for the purpose ot' saturating any portions of the accumulations as they pass along ahead of the piston, but this we' do not deem essential.

The piston is then inserted into the end of the pipe, and the base or astop is attached securely to that end, afterhaving first passed .the end of the tcll-tale through its proper hole and fastened it to the piston.

The engine or pump-hose is then connected therewith at its proper hole., and the whole is ready for operation. The .pistomin its passage, pushes and thrusts the drift ahead of itself till it passes ont of the opposite end of the pipe, when=it isthere taken and the drift is removed by pump or'otherwise.

Incase the side or branch-main stop-cocks or gates are not used, there would, of course, be a necessity for digging down and `breaking the connections ot' these smaller mains at or near their points of j unction with the larger ones, and also the necessity of plngging orpatchiug the orifices in the larger mains so opened, strongly enough to resist the pressure of the water at those points, which is proportionate to its area as compared with that exerted on the cup-valve of the piston.

In the usc of our apparatus in the absence of stopcocks or gates, we have been obliged to do this, and although the expense of this operation was very considerable, still about seven-eighths of the cost and time employed ncleaning the pipes in the usual way was saved; and it is evident that the expense above named for digging, and breaking, and patching, and remaking the connections with the smaller or branch mains would also be saved by the use of the said cocks or` gates, as described.

Having thus described our improvements,

That we now-claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. Apparatus for cleaning pipes or mains, consisting, iirst, of a piston adapted to rake the inner periphery thereof; secondly, a head to inclose the end or part of the pipe from which lthe matter is to be driven; and, thirdly, of an opening intoror near such head for the influx of lwater under pressure; all 'substantially as described.

2. In combination with the subject of the foregoing l first clause of claim, a tell-tale, which may be so made as to be instrumental in returning the plunger to its starting point whenever desired.

JAN VAN SLOOTEN. GALEB S. HUNT. \VM. MCGULLOCH. Witnesses J As. PAHEY, WM. F. PRATT. 

